IMC Club chapter leaders to meet in TexasIMC Club chapter leaders to meet in Texas

August 21, 2013By Dan Namowitz

IMC Club, an organization that promotes proficiency and safety for instrument pilots, will hold its first annual meeting of its chapters’ leaders Oct. 28 in San Marcos, Texas.

The organization also announced the recipient of its first annual proficiency scholarship award, which went to an IMC Club member in Florida.

With its chapter base expanding to more than 70 local units, and its “explosive growth” evidenced by the opening of new chapters in Europe and South America, IMC Club International set a first annual Chapter Leaders Summit in San Marcos to discuss future projects and day-to-day chapter operations, said IMC Club President Radek Wyrzykowski.

The one-day event, free to chapter leaders and associated instructors, is sponsored by Redbird Skyport, which will host the gathering at its facilities at the San Marcos Municipal Airport. An IMC Club chapter is based at Redbird Skyport.

The club—a nonprofit which Wyrzykowski describes as the only organization of its kind—provides a venue for "organized hangar flying" that helps participants, including instrument pilots and pilots training for the instrument rating, build proficiency through discussion of scenarios and other peer activities at monthly meetings.

A dedication to "face to face" networking among pilots is one trait that sets the organization apart—and feedback is confirming that it is what aviators need to help them remain engaged, he said.

Current club members who have flown at least one instrument approach a month for the past six months qualify for membership in an "elite" Inner Marker Circle, which has the added benefit of providing automatic enrollment for the annual proficiency scholarship drawing, Wyrzykowski said.

The 2013 winner was Matt Lockhart, a professional pilot who received his award during EAA AirVenture 2013 in Oshkosh, Wis., where IMC Club co-hosted an IFR proficiency center. (A stipulation of the scholarship program is that the recipient use the award, made available with support from corporate sponsors, to pursue an aviation activity, Wyrzykowski said.)

IMC Club will be an exhibitor and will offer a proficiency center at AOPA Aviation Summit, which is scheduled Oct. 10 to 12 in Fort Worth, Texas.

IMC Club also broadcasts an interactive, live weekly radio program called “Plane Talk.”